Ben Kim

American pianist Ben Kim has been praised for performances the Süddeutsche Zeitung described as “practically euphoric and filled with vitality” and have gained an increasing reputation for its sensibility and integrity. The first prize winner of the 55th ARD International Music Competition for Piano has garnered critical acclaim for his performances worldwide, at renowned venues including  Carnegie Hall, Concertgebouw, Musikverein, Gewandhaus, Suntory Hall, and the Kennedy Center with symphony orchestras such as the Bavarian Radio, German Radio, Leipzig, Baltimore, Kyushu, Seoul, and St Petersburg Hermitage State Symphony Orchestras. This season, he is making his debut with the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra at the Tonhalle under Christoph Eschenbach.

In 2017 Ben Kim received the LOTTO Career Development Prize from the Rheingau Music Festival. The international jury praised his “brilliant technique and incredible flair for interpretive refinement,” calling him “an exceptional phenomenon among pianists of his generation—rarely does one encounter such natural, sympathetic charisma and modesty, combined with great virtuosity, in a leading musician.” In 2012, he was one of six recipients selected from over 13,000 graduates of Johns Hopkins University to receive the Outstanding Recent Graduate Award for distinguished professional achievement.

His recording of Chopin’s Préludes and Impromptus on Universal Decca was named “Editor’s Choice” by Record Geijutsu, which praised his playing as “free of nervousness or exaggeration, as if breathing the music itself.” His discography also includes albums on Sony Classical and Klavier-Festival Ruhr, featuring works by his favourite composers, including Mozart, Debussy, and Schumann. His latest recordings of Mozart Piano Concertos (Nos. 11–13, 17, 23–25) with the Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra on Challenge Records have earned critical acclaim, with The First Vienna Concertos selected as 2024 Critics’ Choice of the Year by American Record Guide.

Ben has been featured at international festivals including Klavier-Festival Ruhr, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Rheingau Musik Festival, Kissinger Sommer, Bonn Schumann Festival, Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad, EuroArt Prague, Ravinia, and the Aspen Music Festival.

Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, Ben studied with Leon Fleisher and Yong Hi Moon at the Peabody Conservatory and at the International Piano Academy Lake Como in Italy, directed by Martha Argerich and William Grant Naboré. He later finished his studies at the Berlin University of the Arts under Klaus Hellwig. Ben resides in Berlin.